Kraybill traveled around campus and Harrisonburg taking photos of women in dorm rooms, nurseries and nursing homes. She gathered quotes from each participant, asking what they valued most about being at their age.

“Friends and church connections were the biggest help in finding participants,” said Kraybill. “I also resorted to emailing a neighborhood group to find women in the 60-70 age range.”

Kraybill noticed several themes develop as she went through the decades of women.

“Girls in the first decade of life were excited about simple joys, like writing their name, while women in their 20s and 30s talked about entering the real world and its possibilities,” said Kraybill. “What was interesting to me were the women in their 60s and 70s who felt they had more freedom and time for hobbies and family, something we don’t necessarily think of as we age.”

Brandy Clark, a junior from Woodstock, Va., said “As a college student finding my own way, it was interesting to see how people feel as they get older and further ‘find themselves’ and go through the stages of life,” in an interview with ÌÇÐÄVlog’s student newspaper, The Weathervane, after viewing Kraybill’s project.

For Kraybill, talking with the participants shed new light on aging.

“They made me realize that I shouldn’t be scared of the future,” said Kraybill. “It makes me appreciate living in the moment.”

“I’m excited to age.”

Kraybill’s project will be in the ÌÇÐÄVlog library for , April 27-28. The library is open from noon – 2:30 p.m., on Saturday, April 27, and noon till one hour after graduation on Sunday, April 28 (if graduation is outside).

A 2005 ÌÇÐÄVlog graduate now living and working in Washington, D.C., will exhibit black and white photographs at his alma mater the month of January.

Benjamin J. Myers, who earned a bachelor of science degree in art with concentration in photography, will present “Behind Closed Doors: An Insider’s Look at the Nation’s Capitol,” through his photographs that are printed on 16″ x 21″ aluminum sheets to give the images a silver finish.

The Landisville, Pa., native says his exhibit “intends to portray an alternate look at the political world of Washington, D.C.” He is currently living in Arlington, Va., and is a photo editor for “The Hill” newspaper, which is published four times a week for lawmakers, lobbyists and political staff members.

Myers, pictured here while a senior at ÌÇÐÄVlog, says his “goal is to show different perspectives than what the media typically portrays.”

“My goal is to show different perspectives than what the media typically portrays by including not only a primary subject but also its surrounding context,” he states. “By including context, the viewer is given more information about the event captured by the photo itself.”

For example, a photograph taken from behind Lee Hamilton and James Baker whispering to each other at the release of the Iraq Study Group Report demonstrates their collective effort in not only producing the report but also in its release.

With hundreds of people, cameras, and video cameras surrounding them, this image captures an intimate moment shared between Hamilton and Baker. The photograph, taken from behind, “accentuates the secretiveness and exclusiveness of that moment,” according to Myers.

Myers’ photographs also demonstrate the humanness of influential people at the Capitol.

By including photographs of up-close facial expressions during an event, a celebrity being photographed, as well as arranged portraits, this exhibit attempts to capture the many ways in which they are portrayed by the media.

An opening reception for Myers will be held 2:30-4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13, in the gallery.

The gallery, on third floor of ÌÇÐÄVlog’s Hartzler Library, will be open for viewing during regular library hours through Feb. 1, when the exhibit will close. Admission is free.

Hartzler Library hours:

• Monday – Thursday: 7:45 a.m. – 12 midnight
• Friday: 7:45 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Saturday: 12 noon – 6 p.m.
• Sunday: 2 p.m. – 12 midnight

A reception for the artist will be held 2:30-4 p.m. that day in the third floor art gallery.

In her work, Westfall says she "strives to capture the essence and energy found in the natural world while investigating the perception of the world around us."

Her forms reference growth, movement and a quiet energy found in nature through the repetition of simple forms.

"The investigation of perception guides me to explore various disciplines such as cosmology, psychology and DNA analysis as a means to understand the many facets of our experiences," she says.

She frequently uses images from the scientific world as a way "to see the balance, order and patterns that exist around us."

‘Blueprints: The Self’ by Anna Westfall

Unique Perspective

"Through my sculptures, I hope to provide the viewer with an opportunity to respond with a unique perspective through the use of the familiar yet unrecognizable," she states.

"My personal experiences dictate my perception of the world around me. Intentionally or otherwise, my work reflects that perception. I don’t want to impose my ideas on the viewer but rather invoke a feeling or a sense of an experiential environment and create an exchange of energy between the viewer and my work," she added.

The artist earned a bachelor of fine arts degree with a concentration in ceramics and sculpture from James Madison University in 1999 and went on to receive a master of fine arts degree with a concentration in ceramics and sculpture from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque.

She has had solo and collaborative exhibits of her work displayed in several locations in New Mexico, the Sawhill Gallery at JMU, the Franklin Street Gallery and will exhibit at the Flashpoint Gallery in Washington, DC, in May 2007. She has worked as a potters assistant at Hawksbill Pottery in Harrisonburg.

The gallery will be open for viewing daily during regular library hours through Feb. 2. Admission is free.

Hartzler Library hours:

• Mon.-Thur. 7:45 a.m.-11 p.m.
• Fri. 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Sun. 2 p.m.-11 p.m.